Woman claims cabbie overcharged &amp; hit her

An Irish expat claims she was hit by a Luxembourg taxi driver and held against her will in the car after refusing to pay what she considered was an over-inflated price for driving 500 metres.

18.08.2015

An Irish expat claims she was hit by a Luxembourg taxi driver and held against her will in the car after refusing to pay what she considered was an over-inflated price for driving 500 metres.

Maya Magdy, who came to Luxembourg from Dublin a month-and-a-half ago, was on her way to visit friends in Bd Napoleon on Friday when she got off a bus in front of Josy Barthel stadium and realised she was lost.

Mapless and facing an aimless walk in torrential rain, the woman called a taxi to take her the last half a kilometre to the house.

The taxi driver then claimed he did not know where the address was, stopping the vehicle to find it on his phone.

After some persuasion, he entered the street into the car's in-built GPS and drove the woman to the address.

The cost of that 500-metre journey was 10 euros.

The passenger protested that the price was excessive for such a short journey and offered half.

At that point, she claims the driver got out angrily, opened the rear door and struck her on the shoulder.

When she attempted to escape through the other door, the driver blocked her access and pushed her inside.

“In the end, I left him the ten euros just so I could get out. He threatened to call the police and left," said Ms Magdy, who called the run-in a "shocking and humiliating" experience.

She has since reported it to police and police have confirmed this. "I do not want another woman to undergo such an experience”.